National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) will mop up 321,000 bags of wheat still being held by farmers to address the market crisis Kenya’s wheat producing regions face.

Agriculture and Livestock Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe has directed farmers and aggregators to deliver their stock to NCPB from March 4, 2025, morning.

The cabinet secretary also announced that payments to farmers will take place within 30 days after delivery to the warehouses across the country that will be done by NCPB.

In a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the NCPB and millers, the wheat from the NCPB will be collected by millers and payment made within 14 to 21 days, Kagwe announced.

Kagwe, in addition, issued a stern warning to individuals bent on hijacking the resolutions to address the crisis by delivering imported wheat to the NCPB adding they will be arrested for sabotaging the process.

The cabinet secretary spoke after a meeting to address challenges faced by wheat farmers at his Kilimo House office in the capital, Nairobi. The meeting was attended by Agriculture Principal Secretary Paul Ronoh, NCPB MD Samuel Karogo, Agriculture and Food Authority Director General Bruno Linyiru, Agriculture Secretary Collins Marangu, Agricultural Cereals Millers Association (CMA) led by the Chief Executive Officer, Paloma Fernandez and Vice Chair Beju Shah and the Cereals Growers Association (CGA) led by CEO Anthony Kioko.

During the meeting Kagwe announced plans to reduce importation of wheat by ensuring local farmers produce enough wheat to meet demand by millers from the current eight per cent to above 40 per cent.

The move to have NCPB collect wheat from farmers, the cabinet secretary noted, will be able to give a database that will be used to issue subsidized fertiliser which will further reduce the cost of production hence ensure more profits to local farmers.

• A Tell / KNA report / By Wangari Ndirangu